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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Lino Oviedo, a candidate in Paraguay’s presidential elections and one of the
country’s most-polarizing political figures, was killed in a helicopter crash on Saturday night
after a political rally in northern Paraguay, government officials said yesterday.

The fiery crash, in which an aide and the pilot of the helicopter also died, opens a new phase
of uncertainty in Paraguay, one of Latin America’s most politically unstable countries. After
authorities confirmed his death and called it an accident, officials in his party, the National
Union of Ethical Citizens, immediately questioned whether Oviedo had been assassinated.

The death of Oviedo, a 69-year-old, long-retired general who had led Paraguay’s army, brought an
end to a tumultuous political career.

He gained prominence in 1989, when he helped topple Gen. Alfredo Stroessner, the dictator who
ruled Paraguay for 35 years.

During a hard-charging political career in recent years, Oviedo campaigned as a populist, coming
in third in the country’s most-recent presidential vote, in 2008.

Oviedo’s chances of winning Paraguay’s presidential election, scheduled for April, appeared
slim. According to recent polls, his support remained in the single digits, far behind the
front-runner, Horacio Cartes, a banking and tobacco magnate.